GOBLIN SLAYER Anime is Dropping on Crunchyroll this Fall

Crunchyroll has been giving fans plenty of great news lately. Whether it be the announcement of their own studio or new releases, there’s always a lot to hear. This weekend brought us the Crunchyroll Expo Industry Panel, with tons of news announced at the Expo and at special events. For those who don’t know, anime expos and industry panels feature submitted and curated content. Generally, this means that hundreds of series receive a spotlight at a single event. While oftentimes this looks toward lesser-known artists in a field, Crunchyroll used the opportunity to promote a new anime too. And from what we know thus far about GOBLIN SLAYER, this is definitely a series to be on the lookout for.

This dark, gripping anime is adapted from a fantasy light novel series. Kumo Kagyu is the series’ original author, while Noboru Kannatsuki serves as its illustrator. If the storyline and concept of the light novel translate neatly, it’s sure to be a fantastic anime. In GOBLIN SLAYER, the story moves almost like an RPG. Characters don’t even have proper names. So, one of the main characters, an inexperienced young priestess, is called Priestess. The anime follows Priestess after she forms her first novice adventuring party. However, she almost immediately gets into trouble and finds herself in grave danger.

Goblin Slayer saves her and her fledgling party from danger and quickly forms a party with Priestess. He is certainly the most “main” of the main character. Goblin Slayer wants to exterminate all goblins at whatever cost. He’s much more experienced in adventures than his new comrades, however. So, his own individual feats begin to circulate via word of mouth just as he teaches his new party skills for survival.

A Dark Anime Fantasy

Along with the announcement and general synopsis from the light novel, we also have a trailer. Just judging it by face value alone, the anime looks fantastic. GOBLIN SLAYER is produced by the animation studio White Fox. This is the same studio to produce fantasy series like RE:ZERO and AKAME GA KILL; the animation style is also similar. What really sticks out early in the trailer are the clear expressions on characters faces. And, like in a lot of other fantasy anime from White Fox, even the background of big scenes have plenty of detail. Check out the trailer below from Youtube:

The trailer also introduces several other characters from the series. These are all party members, with roles such as High Elf Archer. It’s nice to see Crunchyroll giving attention to a non-mainstream shonen series. It’s even nicer to see a show with a more cooperative, adventure feel to it too. Shows like LOG HORIZON used to be popular and accomplished this well. Nowadays though, they’re becoming rarer and rarer. And, the trailer looks relatively tame in terms of possible egregious fan service. That’s always a boon.

You Should be Excited for GOBLIN SLAYER!

The GOBLIN SLAYER anime premieres in October of 2018. This will likely come with a variety of other exciting shows, but this was was especially cool. Without spoiling anything, the light novel is popular for being somewhat dark. GOBLIN SLAYER isn’t some low effort magical storyline with a wizard who wants to be the best. This is a story of trying to seek compensation for one’s pain. Even if the compensation is taken in unjustifiable or even inhumane ways.